Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof

This movie begins in equilibrium when three girls are seen at a bar having a lot of fun and drinking with each other peacefully. Soon after disequilibrium begins due to the incorporation of a creepy, elder man named Stuntman Mike, who has a big scar which runs across his face and is rather unkempt. Mike begins to flirt with the girls and tries to get a lap dance from one of them, further emphasizing his sleazy character. Disequilibrium ensues when he brutally murders them by hitting the group of girls with his car. It continues when he stalks a new group of girls in his car, apparently trying to murder them in the same way, however, the group of girls manage to outsmart him by swerving into his car and causing it tip over.

The movie ends with an action code, “a narrative device by which a resolution is produced through action” (Rayner). In this case, the girls yank Stuntman Mike out of his car and Abernathy (one of the girls) kills him by smashing his face with her boot. The scene abruptly comes to a halt and the movie is over. A new equilibrium has emerged as the villain has been destroyed and harmony can be restored.

This film is chock full of action, blood and gore. Through the mode of address, the audience can infer that Stuntman Mike is the villain of the movie even before he murders anyone due to his scar and for a lack of better words, shady appeal. Furthermore, the audience becomes aware that Mike is a killer after viewing him murdering the first group of girls, which gives the audience “privileged information that may not be shared with the characters on screen” (Rayner), such as the second group of girls who become victims.